Parents pressure for peak performance

A survey of 80 students showed that most parents get mad when their children get poor grades on assignments, even though a majority of students said they don’t feel stressed because of their parents’ feelings.

Parents want us to succeed no matter what we’re doing, whether it be playing a sport, having a job, you name it. That’s just what they do. Parents love watching their kids win their games or come home with a paycheck, but they especially love when their kids are excelling in their academic studies.

But sometimes the pressure is too much.

“When my parents yell at me because of my grades, it makes me feel like I’m not trying hard enough and think there is no use for even trying in school anymore,” junior Brinya Kydd said.

Many students would love to have Kydd’s grades, yet she still feels the pressure. But is that pressure healthy? Even the students whose unweighted GPAs fall below the magnet-required 2.5 will say that the conference with magnet coordinator Jeff Williams and their counselor has worked better than being scolded by their parents.

The students’ responses to the survey show ninth and tenth graders feel obligated to have “perfect grades” because of pressure from their parents. However, as the grade level of students increases, the students feel less responsive to parental pressure.

As we get older, the effectiveness of parental pressure decreases. So, parents, please, lighten up!